More Treasures of the Heart…

Spring is truly here, painting the landscape with colours of deep and light magenta. This year, the cherry blossoms in particular, are thick and fluffy like candy floss, showing how strong and beautiful the trees have become as they persevered through the hardships of a snowy and very cold winter. They are singing, joyful and colourful songs ! Life always gives us opportunities to reveal courage and hope, opening one’s heart and find deep joy.

Recently, a very dear friend of mine commissioned a painting of her garden and mystically, she is, as I am, experiencing new beginnings, letting go of fear and attachments, daring to believe and taking the opportunity to go forward … deciding to make the impossible possible.

I finished the painting this week-end and as she and I talked and pondered about the title, I realised that, while painting amid all my daily life’s ups and downs, my heart expressed the feeling of reaching upwards, expanding, becoming stronger on my journey to achieve my dream.

We both decided to call it ‘soaring’… a fitting title!

' Soaring ' - Acrylic on card - 50cm x 40cm

‘The Kegon Sutra says “the heart is like a skilled painter” . Like a great painter, the heart freely creates representations of all things. One’s heart is the designer, the painter, the sculptor and the architect of his and her being.’ Daisaku Ikeda

“This year, the cherry blossoms in particular, are thick and fluffy like candy floss, showing how strong and beautiful the trees have become as they persevered through the hardships of a snowy and very cold winter.”

What a fitting analogy for the process of completing a painting. The beautiful and dazzling artwork is what the world sees when the artwork is finished, but the only artist knows of the perseverance through struggles along the way that preceded it. (…unless a YouTube time lapse chronicles the painting’s progress!) Actually, Annick, I bet your painting experience is smooth and without sudden roadblocks to be navigated that threaten the painting’s completion – ha! – but a few struggles along the way are a given for most of my paintings that only the artist would be aware of.

Yes Julia you are right ! and it is because of the struggles that the painting is more beautiful..it is living !My painting experience isn’t always smooth and often the ‘difficult’ paintings turn out to be the best ones because of the struggles, the letting go, the trust of letting it flow…merci, mon amie …